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Trump due for unprecedented second state visit

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Royals to host banquet for Trump

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Under-fire Starmer hopes to secure investment deals

Questions over Epstein among potential pitfalls

(Adds more investment detail in paragraphs 1, 6-8)

By Elizabeth Piper and Steve Holland

LONDON, Sept 16 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump

was due to arrive in Britain late on Tuesday for a second state

visit at which the two nations will seal deals worth more than

$10 billion, a renewal of a "special relationship" Prime

Minister Keir Starmer is keen to champion.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and British finance

minister Rachel Reeves were leading events ahead of Trump's

arrival, announcing a "Transatlantic taskforce" to deepen work

between two of the world's largest financial centres.

Trump will then be greeted by King Charles on Wednesday, for

a day of pomp at Windsor Castle, a regal show of soft power

that Starmer hopes will offer him protection from possible

pitfalls later on the visit.

BRITISH PM UNDER PRESSURE AFTER SACKING AMBASSADOR

Starmer, under pressure after being forced to sack Peter

Mandelson as his ambassador to the U.S. over his ties to

Epstein, will then host Trump at his country residence.

With Starmer hoping to underline that his close ties with

Trump can benefit Britain, senior U.S. officials said on Monday

that deals worth more than $10 billion would be announced during

the visit, covering energy and technology.

Business executives attending include Nvidia Corp ( NVDA )

CEO Jensen Huang and OpenAI's Sam Altman. Google said it would

invest 5 billion pounds ($6.8 billion), partly on a new data

centre close to London that would help meet demand for AI

services.

"This historic second state visit is set to highlight and

renew the special relationship between the United States and the

United Kingdom," a senior U.S. official said on Monday.

A spokesperson for Starmer told reporters on Monday that the

prime minister "sees this state visit squarely through the lens

of delivering for working people", citing U.S. investment

pledged over the weekend to create 1,800 jobs in Britain and a

civil nuclear partnership that could lower energy prices.

Olivia O'Sullivan, a director at the Chatham House think

tank, said Britain believed that by closely aligning with the

U.S. it could stay "on the cutting edge of the kind of frontier

technology" that is dominated by the U.S. and China.

SCRUTINY OVER TRUMP'S RELATIONSHIP WITH EPSTEIN

Starmer could well do with shifting the focus to geopolitics

when he hosts Trump at his Chequers country residence on

Thursday, after enduring some of his toughest weeks in office.

Several of his Labour lawmakers are angry over his handling

of the departures of both his deputy, Angela Rayner, and

Mandelson, questioning his full-throated support for both before

being forced to let them go.

After mis-steps over welfare reform, accepting gifts and tax

restrictions on child benefits, several lawmakers are

increasingly questioning the British leader's judgment and

political nous, especially at a time when Nigel Farage's

populist Reform UK party is running well ahead in the polls.

Perhaps the biggest pitfall is the likelihood of questions

about the late sex offender Epstein. Starmer has justified his

abrupt sacking of Mandelson last week by saying he was not aware

of the depth of the ex-ambassador's ties to the financier.

But Trump's relationship with Epstein has also come under

scrutiny after Democrats in the House of Representatives made

public a birthday letter he allegedly wrote to him - something

the U.S. leader has denied writing.

TRUMP TO BE TREATED TO ROYAL PAGEANTRY

On Wednesday, Trump and his wife, Melania, will be treated

to British royal pageantry, including a carriage tour, a state

banquet, a flypast by military aircraft and a gun salute.

A day later, Starmer welcomes Trump to Chequers, a 16th

century manor house in the southern English countryside, to

discuss investment, finalising promised lower tariffs for steel

and aluminium, the so far frustrated efforts to end Russia's

full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the situation in Gaza.

Both nations will have sizeable delegations and will be

largely protected from planned anti-Trump protests. Trump will

also be joined by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who will

hold talks with Britain's newly-appointed foreign minister,

Yvette Cooper.

($1 = 0.7352 pounds)